After almost three years of construction, the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health will be dedicated at noon on Thursday.

The center, which is now located at the corner of Beaumont and Forest roads, has existed on campus for years, but had previously been divided into separate laboratories across campus.

"It improves the efficiency and allows us to improve our turn-around time with results for our clients and puts us in a better position to maintain the integrity of the specimens," said Willie Reed, director of the center.

The new laboratory will provide services for homeland security, animal care and the study of diseases such as bovine tuberculosis.

Reed said the facility took almost three years to complete because of the sophisticated equipment and the large size of the building.

Foreign diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, are a concern of researchers at the center. Accidental and deliberate introduction of ailments will be a focus of the center, said Lonnie King, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

"We have to worry about intentional introduction (of foreign diseases) by terrorists and we have to work quickly to diagnose diseases and keep them from spreading and becoming more serious," King said. "Should mad cow get here, it would cause tremendous economic problems."

The center will have applied research abilities which include designing new diagnostic tests and providing veterinary tools. But King said 85 percent of the work done at the lab will be services for the state and public.

A large emphasis will be given to diagnosing and preventing zoonotic diseases - illnesses that transfer from animals to people. West Nile virus and Lyme disease are two zoonotic diseases found in Michigan.

"A number of these diseases we see in people today are diseases that originated in animals," King said. "Our ability to diagnose and detect these diseases and where they are in animals is an important public function."

The center was built with funds from the State Building Authority.

Erica Waltmire, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Management and Budget, said the construction cost $58 million.

The center began to operate in March and laboratories have been slowly moving into the new building, Reed said. The last of the laboratories moved in August.

Annual operating costs will be covered by the university and fees will be charged for diagnostic services. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which are also using the facility, are contributing to the costs as well.

The state government originally became involved through a concern of bovine tuberculosis spreading in populations of white-tailed deer and domestic cattle.

"We have the most sophisticated equipment and probably the best lab in the United States to do this," King said.